Band to Watch: Parquet Courts

Listen, up Bushwick, we've got a music recommendation for you. Brooklyn-via Texas alt & punk band Parquet Courts is here to buzz around in your lobes. I caught the 4-piece last week at Williamsburg DIY Venue Death By Audio where their sound inspired heavy boozing, moshing, and even some crowd surfing.

Parquet Courts, who live in Bed-Stuy, has been garnishing a lot of praise recently for their jangly indie punk sound. They've got just the right amount of earnestness in their chords to poke through the don't-give-a-fuck Brooklyn rockstar mentality. Equal parts rambling punk rhythms, flying guitar and sharp lyrical jabs, these guys are a band to watch 2013.

Take, for example, their single, "Stoned and Starving." The singer paints a (far too familiar) picture- "I was walking through Ridgewood, Queens. I was flipping through magazines. I was so stoned and starving." And, though, humor plays a big roll in their lyrics, sometimes they mix in serious(ly smart) sentiments, which are more poetic than lyrical. On another quality tune, Tears o Plenty, they penned an intelligent cuplet- "Dreary beats over fast-rapped verses / leaked through windows in hatchback hearses."

There's enough of a hunger for a legitimately good alternative/punk scene in Brooklyn that the show was sold out by 10 pm and the tiny venue was packed all the way to the painted walls. Openers PC Worship set the scene with a funky, layered, and drugged-out psychadelic energy. Then Parquet Courts ripped through their debut album, Light Up Gold, with a fierce freshness. Of course, the crowd took their part in making the show memorable, moshing, throwing elbows, spilling beer, and even crowd surfing.

Head over to their bandcamp to hear the album, and watch out for them playing local shows and on tour. For some reason, I have a feeling these guys are gonna tear it up at SXSW 2013.